“Das natürliche Phänomen” and its fourth co-ordinate. The kinship between the phenomenological doctrines of Goethe and Florensky

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to define, on the basis of the numerous references to Goethe in Florensky’s work, the similarity between some phenomenological assumptions of their philosophical research, demonstrating the structural relationship between them. This text is therefore based on Florensky’s theoretical aversion to the closed instant (момент) and Goethe’s aversion to the pure factual datum (das Faktum): the common distrust towards the empty punctuality of this datum provides a connection between the modus investigandi of the two authors and, consequently, between the definition of the object to which their research is oriented. It thus becomes possible to show that precisely the vital aspect of the phenomenon, which places it in incessant connection with what is other than itself, is the key adopted by both Authors to show how the perceived phenomenon is in fact conceived as a necessarily open and living manifestation within the same research that seeks to investigate its meaning.